I gather from the two responses here that it is unlikely that the Governor actually remembered Ed's sporadic and uncredited announcing appearances on AB. Now I note that Reuters has the quote I originally cited in a somewhat different form, that makes a little more sense, though not exactly chronologically:
"From 'Star Search' to the 30 years he spent in our living rooms as an integral part of the 'Tonight Show,' Ed brought joy and laughter to millions of Americans," Schwarzenegger said in a statement." http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE55M2YI20090623?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews So maybe it was an over-literal assistant, or maybe the first yahoo news (E Entertainment I believe) just made a mistake. On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Mark J. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Jun 24, 10:14 am, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > The one that caught me eye was from our Governor > > > > " California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "From Dick Clark's Bandstand to > Star > > Search and the 30 years he spent in our living rooms as an integral part > of > > the Tonight Show, Ed brought joy and laughter to millions of Americans. > > Maria and I were deeply saddened to learn of his death...Today we join > the > > rest of the country in mourning the loss of this icon who was truly woven > > into the fabric of America."" > > > > I was never a big Bandstand viewer, but as a kid I would check it out > once > > in a while. I have no memory of Ed McMahon ever being part of that > program, > > and no memory of this ever being noted before. I was assuming a mistake > by > > Arnold, and maybe he meant the "bloopers" show Ed did with Clark, but a > > quick peek at Ed's IMDB page does reveal (way at the bottom) that Ed has > a > > credit as "Announcer (unknown episodes, 1952-1958)". That was before my > time > > of course. Is it possible that Arnold was watching Bandstand in the 50s > and > > somehow remembered Ed from those days, or is it more likely that an > > assistant when to imdb and chose the earliest credit they could find to > > start that quote? > > As far as I know, Ed was never a staff announcer at WFIL, which > would've given him a steady announcer gig on that show. He probably > did appear as a spokesman for some sponsors, but nothing steady. The > regular announcer in the Dick Clark years in Philly was Charlie > O'Donnell, who now is the voice of "Wheel of Fortune" and moved with > Clark from Philly to LA in 1963. By the end of the 60s and the > introduction of the fancier set and the temporary dumping of > "Bandstand Boogie" as the theme music, the main reason for using > O'Donnell (doing live spots for products that competed with Clark's > live spots) was gone and he left, although Clark has used him on his > shows as an announcer since then (including "Bloopers"). > > Clark says in one of his bios that he recommended Ed to ABC for "Who > Do You Trust?"--Johnny's original announcer on the show, a man named > Bill Nimmo, had to take another gig and they needed a new announcer in > a hurry. The funny thing was that Clark's relationship with > "Trust?" (or, as it was known back then, "Do You Trust Your Wife?", > until someone pointed out that the title wasn't too appropriate for a > daytime show) was strained--When "Bandstand" started on the network, > they did 15 local minutes starting at 2:45 p.m. to honor sponsors' > contracts and then went to the network at 3 p.m. However, they had to > go off the net at 3:30 for "Trust?" (and then return at 4 for another > hour). Clark never liked the interruption and more than once would be > a little prickly on the air when telling the viewers why there was a > daily interruption in "Bandstand"--he would say, "We don't stop at > this time, we keep going--it is the ABC Television Network's decision > to give you another program and we hope you will join us when we > return a half-hour from now." (And he was right, since they went back > to local for a half-hour--I don't think WFIL ever cleared "Trust?" > until Carson left, Woody Woodbury took over and "Bandstand" went once- > a-week.) Eventually, "Bandstand" got an uninterrupted 90 minutes with > "Trust?" as a lead-in, but Clark once pointed out that the only times > he ever got booked on the Carson "Tonight Show" was when a guest host > was on. > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
